MSAA Volunteers at the Crib Youth Shelter

Thank you to MSAA President, Marco Carriero, for contributing this post.

For the second time this semester, a UIC Liautaud Community Action Team visited the Crib Youth Shelter to prepare and serve a hot dinner for its residents.  The Crib is located at 835 W. Addison, underneath the Lakeview Lutheran Church. The Crib is an overnight space for 20 young troubled people, ages 18-24, to eat good food, get a good night’s sleep, be part of a community, shower, do laundry, and share some safe and affirming space together. The shelter opens its doors in October and closes in April.

The menu included  southern style Mac and Cheese, spring rolls, chicken drumsticks, chicken wings, and potato salad. The delicious meal was topped off with cupcakes.

Volunteering for the young homeless at the Crib Youth Center was a real growth experience on both an individual level as well as for the MSAA as a team. We were given the opportunity to work together for a great cause and to get to know each other on a more personal level by demonstrating important values such as selflessness and compassion. Working towards something outside of the academic environment with my classmates was truly refreshing. The MSAA had not been involved in anything like this before and we certainly wish to continue to have the chance to help out our community and those in need.

Thank you to the MSAA Student Volunteer Team: Danni Zheng, Wei Zhang, Xinyuan Zhao, Yuan Tian, and Marco Carriero.